Have you ever had a temp job? They can actually pay pretty well! A friend of mine did a couple weeks of filing work at a law firm in Newark and I think she made like 20 bucks an hour! But that doesn’t mean that everyone is interested in that kind of work. Take Kanye West, for example. The universe’s intergalactic emperor of music (that’s what it says on his business cards) was offered a quick temp job in Las Vegas, but he turned it down. And the pay was pretty good! I mean, it was like $166,000 an hour. Which isn’t bad these days! I don’t know what the minimum wage is in Nevada right now, but I’m guessing it’s a least a little lower than $166,000/hour.

OK, to be fair, that $166,000 figure is rough. The actual offer was this: West would do nine shows at Planet Hollywood, three shows a week for three weeks, and would be paid a handsome $4.5 million. I figured that was about three hours a show, so 27 hours of performing time, and divided from there. Of course, there is prep time and rehearsal and press requirements, so maybe the hourly rate is closer to $100,000 an hour, but still. That’s still not a bad gig for three weeks, as temp gigs go. But, West said no. Why? Well, maybe he was holding out for more money, even though that rate would have made him the highest paid entertainer in Las Vegas, more than even Celine Dion, the Athena of Nevada’s Athens.

Or maybe Kanye West just doesn’t like Las Vegas? That’s distinctly possible. Being a Vegas performer comes with certain connotations, and I don’t know that his career has really reached that point yet. Dion, or Britney Spears, or Rita Rudner? Sure, play Vegas all you want. You too, Rod Stewart. But that’s not Kanye’s bag just yet. He’s a little too edgy, a little too hip. I mean, what could someone like Kanye West possibly find enjoyable about wearing elaborate costumes in lavish concerts a few times a week and then slowly going mad in some ornate desert mansion surrounded by exotic animals and gold furniture? None of that seems like it would remotely appeal to Kanye West! Not in the slightest.

So, I guess the promoters at the ol’ Planet Hollywood will have to find someone else to take the $100,000 plus per hour job. They should be able to find someone, right? Somebody’s gotta need the money. Maybe they should put an ad on Craigslist and see who responds. Or list it with one of those temp agencies. Someone’s bound to be willing to do the work. Though, are there benefits? Maybe that’s the problem. Gotta have benefits these days.